Jack Ruby was born Jacob Leon Rubenstein[5] on March 25, 1911 in Chicago as the son of Joseph Rubenstein (1871–1958) and Fannie Turek Rutkowski (or Rokowsky), both Polish-born, Orthodox Jews.

The fifth of his parents' 10 surviving children, growing up in the Maxwell Street area of Chicago, Ruby had a troubled childhood and adolescence, marked by juvenile delinquency and time spent in foster homes. On June 6, 1922, at the age of 11, he was arrested for truancy. Ruby eventually skipped school enough times that he spent time at the Institute of Juvenile Research. Still a young man, he sold horse-racing tip sheets and various other novelties, then acted as business agent for a local refuse collectors union that later became part of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT).[6]

Since his early childhood, Ruby was nicknamed "Sparky" by those who knew him.[7] His sister, Eva Grant, said that he acquired the nickname because he resembled a slow-moving horse named "Spark Plug" or "Sparky" in a contemporary comic strip.[7] She stated that he didn't like the nickname and was quick to fight anyone who called him that.[7] Other accounts gave credence to the idea that the name was more directly connected to his quick temper.[7]

In the 1940s, Ruby frequented race tracks in Illinois and California. He was drafted in 1943 and served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, working as an aircraft mechanic at U.S. bases until 1946. He had an honorable record and was promoted to Private First Class. Upon discharge, on February 21, 1946, Ruby returned to Chicago.

In 1947, Ruby moved to Dallas where he and his brothers soon afterward shortened their surnames from Rubenstein to Ruby. The stated reason for this was that the name "Rubenstein" was too long and that he was "well known" as Jack Ruby.[8] Ruby later went on to manage various nightclubs, strip clubs, and dance halls. Among the strippers Ruby befriended was Candy Barr.

Ruby developed close ties to many Dallas Police officers who frequented his nightclubs, where he provided them with free liquor, prostitutes and other favors.[9] In 1959, Ruby went to Cuba to (ostensibly) visit a friend, influential Dallas gambler Lewis McWillie, an associate of Mafia boss Santo Trafficante, Jr.. Ruby may have met directly with Trafficante on those visits, according to the testimony of British journalist John Wilson-Hudson, who was imprisoned in Cuba at the time;[10] Trafficante operated major casinos in Cuba and was briefly imprisoned after Fidel Castro came to power.[11]

There was evidence given to the Warren Commission to say that Jack Ruby had been involved in the typical underworld activities of gambling, narcotics, and prostitution.

A report from the FBI in 1956 states that their informant Eileen Curry reported that in January of that year, she moved to Dallas with her boyfriend, James Breen, after jumping bond on narcotics charges. Breen told her that he had made connection with large narcotics set up operating between Texas, Mexico, and the East and that "in some fashion, James got the okay to operate through Jack Ruby of Dallas."[13]

Former Dallas County Sheriff Steve Guthrie told the FBI that he believed Ruby "operated some prostitution activities and other vices in his club" since living in Dallas.[14]

Dallas disc jockey Kenneth Dowe testified that Ruby was known around the station for "procuring women for different people who came to town."[15]

The Warren Commission attempted to reconstruct Ruby's movements from November 21, 1963 through November 24.[16] The Commission reported that he was attending to his duties as the proprietor of the Carousel Club located at 1312 1/2 Commerce St. in downtown Dallas and the Vegas Club in the city's Oak Lawn district from the afternoon of November 21 to the early hours of November 22.[16]

According to the Warren Commission, Ruby was in the second-floor advertising offices of the Dallas Morning News, five blocks away from the Texas School Book Depository, placing weekly advertisements for his nightclubs when he learned of the assassination around 12:45 p.m.[17] Ruby then made phone calls to his assistant at the Carousel Club and to his sister.[18] The Commission stated that an employee of the Dallas Morning News estimated the fact that Ruby left the newspaper's offices at 1:30 p.m., but indicated that other testimony suggested he may have left earlier.[17]

White House correspondent Seth Kantor — who was a passenger in the motorcade — testified that after President Kennedy was shot, he had visited Parkland Hospital while the shot President was receiving care. Kantor said that as he entered the hospital, at about 1:30 pm, he felt a tug on his coat. He turned around to see Jack Ruby who called him by his first name and shook his hand;[19][20] he said that he had become acquainted with Ruby while he was a reporter for the Dallas Times Herald newspaper.[21][22] According to Kantor, Ruby asked him if he thought that it would be a good idea for him to close his nightclubs for the next three nights because of the tragedy and Kantor responded with thinking that doing so would be a good idea.[20][23][24]

The Warren Commission dismissed Kantor's testimony, saying that the encounter at Parkland Hospital would have had to take place in a span of a few minutes before and after 1:30 pm, as evidenced by telephone company records of calls made by both people then. The Commission also pointed to contradictory witness testimony and to the lack of video confirmation of Ruby at the scene.[25] The Commission concluded that "Kantor probably did not see Ruby at Parkland Hospital" and "may have been mistaken about both the time and the place that he saw Ruby."[25]

In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations reexamined Kantor's testimony and stated, "While the Warren Commission concluded that Kantor was mistaken [about his Parkland encounter with Ruby], the Committee determined he probably was not."[26][27]

According to the Warren Commission, Ruby arrived back at the Carousel Club shortly before 1:45 pm to notify employees that the club would be closed that evening.[28]

Ruby was seen in the halls of the Dallas Police Headquarters on several occasions after Lee Harvey Oswald's arrest on November 22, 1963; newsreel footage from WFAA-TV (Dallas) and NBC shows that Ruby impersonated a newspaper reporter during a press conference at Dallas Police Headquarters on the night of Kennedy's death.[29] District Attorney Henry Wade briefed reporters at the press conference telling them that Lee Oswald was a member of the anti-Castro Free Cuba Committee. Ruby was one of several people there who spoke up to correct Wade, saying, "Henry, that's the Fair Play for Cuba Committee," a pro-Castro organization.[30][31][32] Ruby told the FBI, a month after his arrest for killing Oswald, that he had his loaded snub-nosed Colt Cobra .38 revolver in his right pocket during the press conference.[33][34][35]

Ruby about to shoot Oswald who is being escorted by Dallas police detectives Jim Leavelle and L. C. Graves.

Later in the day, after driving into town with his two pet dogs and sending an emergency money order to one of his employees, Ruby walked to the nearby police headquarters, where he made his way to the basement via either the Main Street ramp[36] or a stairway accessible from an alleyway next to the Dallas Municipal Building.[37] At 11:21 am CST — while authorities were escorting Oswald through the police basement to an armored car that was to take him to the nearby county jail — Ruby stepped out from a crowd of reporters and fired his .38 revolver into Oswald's abdomen, fatally wounding him. Ruby was immediately subdued by agents and police as he reportedly yelled "You killed the president, you rat!" The shooting was broadcast live nationally, and millions of television viewers witnessed it. Author Norman Mailer, and others, have questioned why Ruby would have left his two beloved dogs in his car if he had planned on killing Oswald at police headquarters.[38]

…Ruby's shooting of Oswald was not a spontaneous act, in that it involved at least some premeditation. Similarly, the committee believed it was less likely that Ruby entered the police basement without assistance, even though the assistance may have been provided with no knowledge of Ruby's intentions… The committee was troubled by the apparently unlocked doors along the stairway route and the removal of security guards from the area of the garage nearest the stairway shortly before the shooting… There is also evidence that the Dallas Police Department withheld relevant information from the Warren Commission concerning Ruby's entry to the scene of the Oswald transfer.[39]

When Ruby was arrested immediately after the shooting, he told several witnesses that he had helped the city of Dallas "redeem" itself in the eyes of the public, and that Oswald's death would spare "…Mrs. Kennedy the discomfiture of coming back to trial."[40] At the time of the shooting, Ruby said he was taking phenmetrazine, a central nervous systemstimulant.[41]

Ruby's explanation for killing Oswald would be "exposed … as a fabricated legal ploy", according to the House Select Committee on Assassinations. In a private note to one of his attorneys, Joseph Tonahill, Ruby wrote: "Joe, you should know this. My first lawyer Tom Howard told me to say that I shot Oswald so that Caroline and Mrs. Kennedy wouldn't have to come to Dallas to testify. OK?"[26][42][43]

Another motive was put forth by Frank Sheeran, allegedly a hitman for the Mafia, in a conversation he had with the then-former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa. During the conversation, Hoffa claimed that Ruby was assigned the task of coordinating police officers who were loyal to Ruby to kill Oswald while he was in their custody. As Ruby evidently mismanaged the operation, he was given a choice to either finish the job himself or forfeit his life.[44]

After his arrest, Ruby asked Dallas attorney Tom Howard to represent him. Howard accepted and asked Ruby if he could think of anything that might damage his defense. Ruby responded that there would be a problem if a man by the name of "Davis" should come up. Ruby told his attorney that he "…had been involved with Davis, who was a gunrunner entangled in anti-Castro efforts."[45][46] Journalist Seth Kantor speculated years later[when?] that this may have been Thomas Eli Davis III, a CIA-connected "soldier of fortune."[47][48]

Later, Ruby replaced attorney Tom Howard with prominent San Francisco defense attorney Melvin Belli who agreed to represent Ruby pro bono. On March 14, 1964, Ruby was convicted of murder with malice, for which he received a death sentence.

Ruby’s conviction was overturned by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on the ground that venue should have been changed to a Texas county other than the one in which the high-profile crime had been committed.[49] Because Ruby's conviction was overturned, and his retrial was pending at the time of his death, he died technically unconvicted.

During the six months following the Kennedy assassination, Ruby repeatedly asked, orally and in writing, to speak to the members of the Warren Commission. The commission initially showed no interest. Only after Ruby's sister Eileen wrote letters to the commission (and her letters became public) did the Warren Commission agree to talk to Ruby. In June 1964, Chief Justice Earl Warren, then-Representative Gerald R. Ford of Michigan, and other commission members went to Dallas to see Ruby. Ruby asked Warren several times to take him to Washington D.C., saying "my life is in danger here" and that he wanted an opportunity to make additional statements.[50] He added: "I want to tell the truth, and I can't tell it here."[51] Warren told Ruby that he would be unable to comply, because many legal barriers would need to be broken and public interest in the situation would be too heavy. Warren also told Ruby that the commission would have no way of protecting him, since it had no police powers. Ruby said he wanted to convince President Lyndon Johnson that he was not part of any conspiracy to kill Kennedy.[52]

The Warren Commission found no evidence linking Ruby's killing of Oswald with any broader conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy.[53]

In his testimony before the Warren Commission, Russell Lee Moore Knight said that Ruby held no bitterness towards Oswald and called him "a good looking guy" who resembled Paul Newman.

Ruby made many long rambling statements while in prison. While talking he disclosed that he did not vote for Kennedy and had not gone to watch him drive through Dallas.[54]

Following Ruby's March 1964 conviction for murder with malice, Ruby's lawyers, led by Sam Houston Clinton, appealed to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest criminal court in Texas. Ruby's lawyers argued that he could not have received a fair trial in Dallas because of the excessive publicity surrounding the case. A year after his conviction, in March 1965, Ruby conducted a brief televised news conference in which he stated: "Everything pertaining to what's happening has never come to the surface. The world will never know the true facts of what occurred, my motives. The people who had so much to gain, and had such an ulterior motive for putting me in the position I'm in, will never let the true facts come above board to the world." When asked by a reporter, "Are these people in very high positions, Jack?", he responded "Yes."[55]

Dallas Deputy Sheriff Al Maddox claimed: "Ruby told me, he said, 'Well, they injected me for a cold.' He said it was cancer cells. That's what he told me, Ruby did. I said you don't believe that bullshit. He said, 'I damn sure do!' [Then] one day when I started to leave, Ruby shook hands with me and I could feel a piece of paper in his palm… [In this note] he said it was a conspiracy and he said … if you will keep your eyes open and your mouth shut, you're gonna learn a lot. And that was the last letter I ever got from him."[56] Not long before Ruby died, according to an article in the London Sunday Times, he told psychiatrist Werner Teuter that the assassination was "an act of overthrowing the government" and that he knew "who had President Kennedy killed." He added: "I am doomed. I do not want to die. But I am not insane. I was framed to kill Oswald."[56][57][58]

Eventually, the appellate court agreed with Ruby's lawyers for a new trial, and on October 5, 1966, ruled that his motion for a change of venue before the original trial court should have been granted. Ruby's conviction and death sentence were overturned. Arrangements were underway for a new trial to be held in February 1967 in Wichita Falls, Texas, when on December 9, 1966, Ruby was admitted to Parkland Hospital in Dallas, suffering from pneumonia. A day later, doctors realized he had cancer in his liver, lungs, and brain. Three weeks later, he died.

According to an unnamed Associated Press source, Ruby made a final statement from his hospital bed on December 19 that he alone had been responsible for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald.[59] "There is nothing to hide… There was no one else," Ruby said.[60]

Journalist Seth Kantor — who testified that on the day of the assassination, he encountered Ruby at Parkland Hospital — also reported that Ruby might have tampered with evidence while at Parkland.[61] Goaded by the Warren Commission's dismissal of his testimony, Kantor researched the Ruby case for years. In a later published book Who Was Jack Ruby?, Kantor wrote:

The mob was Ruby's "friend." And Ruby could well have been paying off an IOU the day he was used to kill Lee Harvey Oswald. Remember: "I have been used for a purpose," the way Ruby expressed it to Chief Justice Warren in their June 7, 1964 session. It would not have been hard for the mob to maneuver Ruby through the ranks of a few negotiable police [to kill Oswald].[62]

In his book, Contract on America, David Scheim presented evidence that Mafia leaders Carlos Marcello and Santo Trafficante, Jr., as well as organized labor leader Jimmy Hoffa, ordered the assassination of President Kennedy. Scheim cited in particular a 25-fold increase in the number of out-of-state telephone calls from Jack Ruby to associates of these crime bosses in the months before the assassination.[63] According to author Vincent Bugliosi, both the Warren Commission and the House Select Committee on Assassinations determined all of these calls were related to Ruby seeking help from the American Guild of Variety Artists in a matter concerning two of his competitors.[64] The House Select Committee on Assassinations report stated "...that most of Ruby's phone calls during late 1963 were related to his labor troubles. In light of the identity of some of the individuals with whom Ruby spoke, however, the possibility of other matters being discussed could not be dismissed."[65]

In his memoir, Bound by Honor, Bill Bonanno, son of New York Mafia boss Joseph Bonanno, stated that he realized that certain Mafia families were involved in the JFK assassination when Ruby killed Oswald, since Bonanno was aware that Ruby was an associate of Chicago mobster Sam Giancana.[66]

In 1964, the Warren Commission provided a detailed biography of Ruby's life and activities to help ascertain whether he was involved in a conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy.[67] The Commission indicated that there was not a "significant link between Ruby and organized crime"[68] and said he acted independently in killing Oswald.[53] Fifteen years later, the House Select Committee on Assassinations undertook a similar investigation of Ruby and said that he "had a significant number of associations and direct and indirect contacts with underworld figures" and "the Dallas criminal element" but that he was not a "member" of organized crime.[69]

Ruby was known to have been acquainted with both the police and the Mafia. The HSCA said that Ruby had known Chicago mobster Sam Giancana (1908-1975) and Joseph Campisi (1918–1990) since 1947, and had been seen with them on many occasions.[70][71] After an investigation of Joe Campisi, the HSCA found:

While Campisi's technical characterization in federal law enforcement records as an organized crime member has ranged from definite to suspected to negative, it is clear that he was an associate or friend of many Dallas-based organized crime members, particularly Joseph Civello, during the time he was the head of the Dallas organization. There was no indication that Campisi had engaged in any specific organized crime-related activities.[72]

Similarly, a PBSFrontline investigation into the connections between Ruby and Dallas organized crime figures reported the following:

In 1963, Sam and Joe Campisi were leading figures in the Dallas underworld. Jack knew the Campisis and had been seen with them on many occasions. The Campisis were lieutenants of Carlos Marcello, the Mafia boss who had reportedly talked of killing the President.[73]

A day before Kennedy was assassinated, Ruby went to Joe Campisi's restaurant.[74] At the time of the Kennedy assassination, Ruby was close enough to the Campisis to ask them to come see him after he was arrested for shooting Lee Oswald.[71][75][76] Joe Campisi and his wife visited with Jack Ruby in jail for ten minutes on November 30, 1963.[74]

Howard P. Willens — the third highest official in the Department of Justice[77] and assistant counsel to J. Lee Rankin — helped organize the Warren Commission. Willens also outlined the Commission's investigative priorities[78] and terminated an investigation of Ruby's Cuban related activities.[79] An FBI report states that Willens's father had been Tony Accardo's next door neighbor going back to 1958.[80] In 1946, Tony Accardo allegedly asked Jack Ruby to go to Texas with Mafia associates Pat Manno and Romie Nappi to make sure that Dallas County Sheriff Steve Gutherie would acquiesce to the Mafia’s expansion into Dallas.[81]

Four years before the assassination of President Kennedy, Ruby went to see a man named Lewis McWillie in Cuba. Ruby considered McWillie, who had previously run illegal gambling establishments in Texas, to be one of his closest friends.[82] At the time Ruby visited him, in August 1959, McWillie was supervising gambling activities at Havana's Tropicana Club. Ruby told the Warren Commission that his August trip to Cuba was merely a social visit at the invitation of McWillie.[82] The House Select Committee on Assassinations would later conclude that Ruby "…most likely was serving as a courier for gambling interests."[83][84][85] The committee also found "circumstantial," but not conclusive, evidence that "…Ruby met with [Mafia boss] Santo Trafficante in Cuba sometime in 1959."[86][87]

James E. Beaird, who claimed to be a poker-playing friend of Jack Ruby, told both The Dallas Morning News and the FBI that Ruby smuggled guns and ammunition from Galveston Bay, Texas to Fidel Castro's guerrillas in Cuba in the late 1950s. Beaird said that Ruby "was in it for the money. It wouldn't matter which side, just [whichever] one that would pay him the most." Beaird said that the guns were stored in a two-story house near the waterfront, and that he saw Ruby and his associates load "many boxes of new guns, including automatic rifles and handguns" on a 50-foot military-surplus boat. He claimed that "each time that the boat left with guns and ammunition, Jack Ruby was on the boat."[88][89][90]

Blaney Mack Johnson, an FBI informant, said Ruby was "active in arranging illegal flights of weapons from Miami" to pro-Castro forces in Cuba in the early 1950s.[90][91]

Warren Commission investigator David Belin stated postal inspector Harry Holmes arrived unannounced at the Dallas police station and, upon invitation by the investigators, questioned Oswald and delayed his transfer by half an hour.[92] Belin said that had Ruby been part of a conspiracy, he would have been downtown 30 minutes earlier.[92]

In Gerald Posner's book Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK, Ruby's friends, relatives and associates stress how upset he was upon hearing of Kennedy's death, even crying on occasion, and how he closed his money-losing clubs for three days as a mark of respect.[93]

Dallas reporter Tony Zoppi, who knew Ruby well, claims that one "would have to be crazy" to entrust Ruby with anything as important as a high-level plot to kill Kennedy since he "couldn't keep a secret for five minutes… Jack was one of the most talkative guys you would ever meet. He'd be the worst fellow in the world to be part of a conspiracy, because he just plain talked too much."[94] He and others describe Ruby as the sort who enjoyed being at "the center of attention", trying to make friends with people and being more of a nuisance.[93]

G. Robert Blakey, chief counsel for the House Select Committee on Assassinations from 1977 to 1979, sees it differently. He says: "The most plausible explanation for the murder of Oswald by Jack Ruby was that Ruby had stalked him on behalf of organized crime, trying to reach him on at least three occasions in the forty-eight hours before he silenced him forever."[95]

Some writers, including former Los Angeles District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi, dismiss Ruby's connections to organized crime as being minimal at best:

It is very noteworthy that without exception, not one of these conspiracy theorists knew or had ever met Jack Ruby. Without our even resorting to his family and roommate, all of whom think the suggestion of Ruby being connected to the mob is ridiculous, those who knew him, unanimously and without exception, think the notion of his being connected to the Mafia, and then killing Oswald for them, is nothing short of laughable.[96]

Bill Alexander, who prosecuted Ruby for Oswald's murder, equally rejected any suggestions that Ruby was part-and-parcel of organized crime, claiming that conspiracy theorists based it on the claim that "A knew B, and Ruby knew B back in 1950, so he must have known A, and that must be the link to the conspiracy."[97]

Ruby's brother Earl denied allegations that Jack was involved in racketeering Chicago nightclubs, and author Gerald Posner suggests that Ruby may have been confused[by whom?] with Harry Rubenstein, a convicted Chicago felon.[97] Entertainment reporter Tony Zoppi is also dismissive of mob ties. He knew Ruby and described him as a "born loser."[97]

Ruby's shooting of Oswald, and his behavior both before and after the Kennedy assassination, have been the topic of numerous films, TV programs, books, and songs. Articles of clothing that Ruby wore when he killed Oswald — including his suit, hat and shoes — are on display at the Historic Auto Attractions museum in Roscoe, Illinois.

In Oliver Stone's 1991 film JFK, Ruby was portrayed by actor Brian Doyle-Murray. Stone's perspective on events draws heavily from conspiracy theory researchers such as Jim Marrs and L. Fletcher Prouty. At least three scenes further detailing Ruby were removed from the film and are only available on DVD. One scene expanded on the Oswald shooting by showing corrupt Dallas police officers allowing Ruby to enter police headquarters through a restricted entrance.

The 1992 film Ruby speculated on complex motivations that might have propelled Ruby into shooting Oswald. Among these were Ruby's reputation among family and friends as an assiduous, emotionally volatile publicity-seeker, and the influence of his long-time organized crime and Dallas police connections. Ruby was played by Danny Aiello.

In The Last Waltz, the classic rock film of The Band's final concert, Robbie Robertson recalls a time, early in the band's history when they were on their own after serving as a backup band for Bob Dylan, where they played a show at The Skyline Lounge which, unbeknownst to them at the time until a few years after, was a club owned by Jack Ruby.

Ruby and Oswald (1978), a made-for-television movie, generally followed the official record as presented by the Warren Commission. Ruby's actions and dialogue (as well as those of the people he comes in contact with) are nearly verbatim re-enactments of testimony given to the Warren Commission by those involved, according to the opening narration. Ruby was played by Michael Lerner.

Ruby was also a character in one episode of the Starz TV series Magic City. He was portrayed by Holland Hayes in season two's third episode, "Adapt or Die". Ruby was sitting next to the main character, Ike Evans, on his way back from Cuba.

In the animated TV series King of the Hill, Dale Gribble tries to order Jack Ruby's hat over the phone despite the fact that it is clearly a hoax

In The Simpsons episode "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife", Homer and Marge Simpson decide to make their own novel: "Who Really Killed JFK", with Homer's theory being that Lee Harvey Oswald wanted to steal "the Jack Ruby", but then refutes his own idea when Marge tells him that Jack Ruby was a man, not a jewel.

In the Hulu series 11.22.63, Jack Ruby is shown as a nightclub owner in 1960 Dallas played by Antoni Corone.

^The Warren Commission found that various dates were given in the records for Ruby's birth; the one most used by Ruby himself was March 25, 1911 (The Warren Report: Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 1964). His tombstone at Westlawn Cemetery, Chicago has April 25, 1911 as his birthdate

^Brandt, Charles. I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran and the Inside Story of the Mafia, the Teamsters, and the Last Ride of Jimmy Hoffa, (New Hampshire: Steerforth Press, 2004), p. 242.